I thought I would post up my review of the DTUK Pedal Box which is available for a large selection of Diesel models as well as some Petrol variants.
The Pedal box works with DBW (Drive-By-Wire) accelerator pedals by intercepting and altering the voltage supplied to the ECU, providing an increased % of pedal travel thus simulating a harder push of the pedal.
To set the scene I will give you a little insight into my own background :
Since passing my driving test in 1989 I have driven primarily hot hatch/sports saloon.
In most cases these have seen tuning/remapping performed on them during my ownership of the car.
The list goes something like this (some of the older generation may recognise some of the tuning options) :
Ford Escort RS1600i (1983) - Abbot Performance 'Red' ECU upgrade
Ford Escort Series 1 RS Turbo (1986) - Collins Performance Chip
Ford Sierra 3-Door RS Cosworth (1986) - BBR Stage 1
Subaru Impreza 'Prodrive Edition' - Prodrive PPP ECU - Later modified further by myself from 240BHP to 280BHP with my own custom remap
I then went on to provide variations of the above Subaru upgrade for different models of 1993-1996 Impreza (dependant on make/model/tune), and sold in excess of 300 units amongst the Subaru community worldwide (Google - 'Polar Performance', if in any doubt).
I ceased trading/selling these in 2010 due personal reasons and also due to an influx of blank devices from Hong Kong (a component that was previously declared obsolete by Fujitsu), I was then subjected to the selling force of the 'ebay - buy 1 copy'n'paste' brigade', stealing my business and under-cutting my prices.
So to continue the list of cars owned/tuned from above........
Subaru Impreza UK (2000) - Power Engineering ECUTEK remap, later replaced by my own remapping of an Apexi PFC replacement ECU
Subaru Impreza WRX STi (2007) - Opensource mapped by myself using a combination of http://www.romraider.com/ and http://www.epifansoft.com/. Including DBW throttle improvements to achieve 80% boost target for 50% throttle angle.
SEAT Leon FR 2.0TDi - AMD Essex Performance Tune & DPF Delete (had to start paying for mapping again !!!!
)
In addition to the above I have probably 'live mapped' in excess of 40 Impreza (aged from 2001-2007) of friends and colleagues from www.southeastscoobies.co.uk for which I am 'Admin' and 'Events Coordinator'. None of which have ever gone bang, with a number of them seeing regular trackdays, Nurburgring trips and European Alpine driving holiday's (Impreza WR1 on the recent Rico Rally),
I still do the odd tune for close friends but they really, really, really have to twist my arm hard to get me out of bed on the weekend, for a spirited road mapping session.
OK.....rather then blow my own trumpet with the above, what I am trying to establish with you guy's is that I am not the average purchaser of engine tuning/remapping products and in some cases (but not all) know more than, and spend a lot more time developing a solution, than many 'mechanics with a laptop & franchise'.
So on to the DTUK Pedalbox review :
I recently purchased a A4 Avant S-Line BE 2.0TDi 190ps (see signature & Avatar).
I selected the 190PS as I wanted the best power Vs Economy solution.
Initial driving experience highlighted that the 'Throttle Response' appeared to be more tuned to the 'elder' gentleman, whereas my previous SEAT Leon FR was probably tuned to appeal to those of a 'Younger' generation. It may well be that Audi in their wisdom also tuned the 'last gasp' of efficiency out of the throttle response in order to achieve emissions targets, and there has been many a word said about that recently.
Using VCDS I managed to turn on the ADS and change the setting from 'Auto' to 'Dynamic'. This gave slightly better throttle response with things becoming a lot more tolerable and resulted in no stalling when pulling away from a crawl in 2nd (this I did about 5 times within the 1st few days of ownership).
Although now in Dynamic mode this did not give anything like the throttle response of my previous SEAT or the S4 (in Dynamics mode) owned for a short period prior to the Diesel.
All 3 of these cars, on paper, had similar levels of Torque, so low rpm performance should be in the same ball park.
The Audi would give you the power/torque, eventually !!!!!, but I felt you really needed to provoke it with a 50% (or more) stab on the throttle. It also felt that you were not benefitting from the turbo at low rpm / low throttle angle.
Since fitting the DTUK Pedal box the change in response and character of the car has been fantastic. Obviously the car has no more power then prior to fitting the Pedal Box (that will come later with the fitting of the DTUK tuning box).
The Pedal Box is currently set to 'Sport' mode and the change has been quite dramatic. The car now pulls extremely well for very little throttle input and suddenly you can feel & appreciate that the car 'really does have 295ftlb of torque'.
I was beginning to doubt the cars rated performance of 190ps/295ftlb, but post fitting of the box this has been confirmed.
The drive/pedal feel when not pushing on is smooth and controlled and at no point in 'sport' mode have I felt the car is over-driving my request.
I have yet to set it into 'Sport-Plus' mode, perhaps this will be a step too far.
As I have enabled ADS I can also tune from the MMI. So now I have more options that I would ever need.
PEDAL Box Settings :
Pedal Box 'City Mode' (-3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3)
Pedal Box 'Sport Mode' (-3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3)
Pedal Box 'Sport-Plus Mode' (-3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3)
ADS Settings :
With ADS mode applied to any of the above i.e Set it to 'Dynamic' and Pedal Box set to 'Sport-Plus +3' for the most aggressive mode, which you can then reign in slightly by leaving the Pedal Box set to 'Sport-Plus +3' but the ADS in 'Efficiency mode'.
So to conclude, and with many years experience of tuning/remapping, I would honestly say that the DTUK Pedal box has provided me with the most surprising result, the most versatility of any commercially available solution previously experienced, excellent quality with OE style connectivity and above all great value (even better for ASN members, via Andrew at DTUK @ABYSS).
Being into tuning myself, but with limitations on what vehicles I can access the ECU of (and also rather a large dose of "can I be bothered to learn another ECU and risk bricking it"), on more then 1 occasion I have returned from a tuner a little despondent, and only 70-80% happy with the results. Reluctantly accepting the end result as the best commercially available.
With the DTUK Pedal Box this is certainly not the case. This has changed a car's character, for the positive, that I was having serious doubts whether it would be a long termer (I was considering how soon I could change back to a Petrol S3 Saloon). I am also now looking forward to the DTUK Tuning box also going on.
A few pictures of the install (position of controller is temporary until I decide on my optimum setting).
The Pedal box works with DBW (Drive-By-Wire) accelerator pedals by intercepting and altering the voltage supplied to the ECU, providing an increased % of pedal travel thus simulating a harder push of the pedal.
To set the scene I will give you a little insight into my own background :
Since passing my driving test in 1989 I have driven primarily hot hatch/sports saloon.
In most cases these have seen tuning/remapping performed on them during my ownership of the car.
The list goes something like this (some of the older generation may recognise some of the tuning options) :
Ford Escort RS1600i (1983) - Abbot Performance 'Red' ECU upgrade
Ford Escort Series 1 RS Turbo (1986) - Collins Performance Chip
Ford Sierra 3-Door RS Cosworth (1986) - BBR Stage 1
Subaru Impreza 'Prodrive Edition' - Prodrive PPP ECU - Later modified further by myself from 240BHP to 280BHP with my own custom remap
I then went on to provide variations of the above Subaru upgrade for different models of 1993-1996 Impreza (dependant on make/model/tune), and sold in excess of 300 units amongst the Subaru community worldwide (Google - 'Polar Performance', if in any doubt).
I ceased trading/selling these in 2010 due personal reasons and also due to an influx of blank devices from Hong Kong (a component that was previously declared obsolete by Fujitsu), I was then subjected to the selling force of the 'ebay - buy 1 copy'n'paste' brigade', stealing my business and under-cutting my prices.
So to continue the list of cars owned/tuned from above........
Subaru Impreza UK (2000) - Power Engineering ECUTEK remap, later replaced by my own remapping of an Apexi PFC replacement ECU
Subaru Impreza WRX STi (2007) - Opensource mapped by myself using a combination of http://www.romraider.com/ and http://www.epifansoft.com/. Including DBW throttle improvements to achieve 80% boost target for 50% throttle angle.
SEAT Leon FR 2.0TDi - AMD Essex Performance Tune & DPF Delete (had to start paying for mapping again !!!!
)In addition to the above I have probably 'live mapped' in excess of 40 Impreza (aged from 2001-2007) of friends and colleagues from www.southeastscoobies.co.uk for which I am 'Admin' and 'Events Coordinator'. None of which have ever gone bang, with a number of them seeing regular trackdays, Nurburgring trips and European Alpine driving holiday's (Impreza WR1 on the recent Rico Rally),
I still do the odd tune for close friends but they really, really, really have to twist my arm hard to get me out of bed on the weekend, for a spirited road mapping session.
OK.....rather then blow my own trumpet with the above, what I am trying to establish with you guy's is that I am not the average purchaser of engine tuning/remapping products and in some cases (but not all) know more than, and spend a lot more time developing a solution, than many 'mechanics with a laptop & franchise'.
So on to the DTUK Pedalbox review :
I recently purchased a A4 Avant S-Line BE 2.0TDi 190ps (see signature & Avatar).
I selected the 190PS as I wanted the best power Vs Economy solution.
Initial driving experience highlighted that the 'Throttle Response' appeared to be more tuned to the 'elder' gentleman, whereas my previous SEAT Leon FR was probably tuned to appeal to those of a 'Younger' generation. It may well be that Audi in their wisdom also tuned the 'last gasp' of efficiency out of the throttle response in order to achieve emissions targets, and there has been many a word said about that recently.
Using VCDS I managed to turn on the ADS and change the setting from 'Auto' to 'Dynamic'. This gave slightly better throttle response with things becoming a lot more tolerable and resulted in no stalling when pulling away from a crawl in 2nd (this I did about 5 times within the 1st few days of ownership).
Although now in Dynamic mode this did not give anything like the throttle response of my previous SEAT or the S4 (in Dynamics mode) owned for a short period prior to the Diesel.
All 3 of these cars, on paper, had similar levels of Torque, so low rpm performance should be in the same ball park.
The Audi would give you the power/torque, eventually !!!!!, but I felt you really needed to provoke it with a 50% (or more) stab on the throttle. It also felt that you were not benefitting from the turbo at low rpm / low throttle angle.
Since fitting the DTUK Pedal box the change in response and character of the car has been fantastic. Obviously the car has no more power then prior to fitting the Pedal Box (that will come later with the fitting of the DTUK tuning box).
The Pedal Box is currently set to 'Sport' mode and the change has been quite dramatic. The car now pulls extremely well for very little throttle input and suddenly you can feel & appreciate that the car 'really does have 295ftlb of torque'.
I was beginning to doubt the cars rated performance of 190ps/295ftlb, but post fitting of the box this has been confirmed.
The drive/pedal feel when not pushing on is smooth and controlled and at no point in 'sport' mode have I felt the car is over-driving my request.
I have yet to set it into 'Sport-Plus' mode, perhaps this will be a step too far.
As I have enabled ADS I can also tune from the MMI. So now I have more options that I would ever need.
PEDAL Box Settings :
Pedal Box 'City Mode' (-3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3)
Pedal Box 'Sport Mode' (-3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3)
Pedal Box 'Sport-Plus Mode' (-3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3)
ADS Settings :
With ADS mode applied to any of the above i.e Set it to 'Dynamic' and Pedal Box set to 'Sport-Plus +3' for the most aggressive mode, which you can then reign in slightly by leaving the Pedal Box set to 'Sport-Plus +3' but the ADS in 'Efficiency mode'.
So to conclude, and with many years experience of tuning/remapping, I would honestly say that the DTUK Pedal box has provided me with the most surprising result, the most versatility of any commercially available solution previously experienced, excellent quality with OE style connectivity and above all great value (even better for ASN members, via Andrew at DTUK @ABYSS).
Being into tuning myself, but with limitations on what vehicles I can access the ECU of (and also rather a large dose of "can I be bothered to learn another ECU and risk bricking it"), on more then 1 occasion I have returned from a tuner a little despondent, and only 70-80% happy with the results. Reluctantly accepting the end result as the best commercially available.
With the DTUK Pedal Box this is certainly not the case. This has changed a car's character, for the positive, that I was having serious doubts whether it would be a long termer (I was considering how soon I could change back to a Petrol S3 Saloon). I am also now looking forward to the DTUK Tuning box also going on.
A few pictures of the install (position of controller is temporary until I decide on my optimum setting).
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